Oz Pearlman, the clairvoyant and mind reader popularly known as “Oz the Mentalist,” blew the Crimson Tide’s mind when he brought his tricks to the Alabama football team’s meeting room for an ESPN College Football video segment.
For his first act, Pearlman called down Alabama linebacker Que Robinson and head coach Kalen DeBoer.
After the duo ambled down the meeting room as the team applauded, Pearlman asked Robinson to look at the time on DeBoer’s watch.
“What does it say, Que? To the minute?”
“About 1:15,” Robinson responded, laughing.
Next, Pearlman instructed DeBoer to hold his wrist up to the camera to show the exact time– 1:14. Then, he asked Robinson to cover DeBoer’s watch with his left hand.
“I want you to close your eyes and I want you to picture the face of somebody you care about deeply. Can you see that person in your mind?”
“Yeah,” Robinson replied.
Pearlman directed Robinson to open his eyes and think about a specific letter in the name. “Mix up the letters in that person’s name. And then just stop, and grab one of the letters out,” said Pearlman.
Then he paused and snapped his fingers.
“L. L. You thought of an L,” he said as Robinson laughed and nodded.
The next trick came when Pearlman asked Robinson to verify the name he thought about.
“Riley?” said Pearlman. “Is that for real?”
“Yeah,” said Robinson, nodding and smiling.
“What’s Riley’s birthday? Hold on, don’t say it. Think it. Think it. Ready? What time is it? 1:15? Watch this,” said Pearlman, as he moved his hand toward DeBoer’s watch, then balled it into a fist. “Done. Tell us, what’s Riley’s birthday?”
“July 1st,” Robinson replied.
“July 1st. That’s like, seven, oh, one,” said Pearlman, while he traced imaginary numbers into the air. “What time does it say now on that watch, Coach?”
“Ha. 7:01,” DeBoer said as the room erupted into shouts of “ayyyyeeee!” and jovial applause.
For his second act, Pearlman told Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan III to put on a blindfold.
“Your eyes are closed. And folks, what I want to see is if I can somehow connect with him,” Pearlman told the room.
He stopped talking, then moved his palm down toward the top of Keenan’s hand. Making a slight flutter motion, Pearlman started to raise his hand toward the ceiling while Keenan’s arm appeared to lift in tandem.
Around the room, players’ eyes widened in amazement. But Pearlman wasn’t done.
“Tim, imagine anybody on this team. Can you visualize this person right now?” he asked Keenan.
“Yeah,” Keenan replied, still blindfolded.
“Alright, let me walk,” said Pearlman as he looked around the room. He walked halfway up the stairs, then pointed to Alabama linebacker Q.B. Reese and motioned for him to stand. Pearlman stepped up to stand next to Reese, tapped him on the left shoulder twice, and then looked back down the stairs at Keenan.
“Tim, point and show me when you felt me touch you.”
Keenan placed his hand on his left shoulder.
“Tim, tell us, how many times did you feel me touch you?”
“Twice,” said Keenan.
“And in this room, out of all of your teammates. Tell us all, who is the person you were imagining in your mind? Say it. What’s their name?”
“Q.B. Reese,” Keenan replied.
The room went wild. Some players clapped their hands while others grabbed their heads in disbelief. Keenan, equally awestruck, ripped off the blindfold and laughed.
The video ends as the team gives Pearlman a standing ovation.
On Friday, Pearlman stopped by ESPN’s “College GameDay” set ahead of the Indiana vs. Notre Dame game to dazzle former Alabama coach Nick Saban and the other members of the GameDay crew.
He involved Saban with his first trick, asking the former Alabama coach to imagine a field goal attempt and how long the kick would be. Saban said 34 yards.
“Hand on the Bible, God above, did I tell you to say that number?” Pearlman asked Saban. “You did not tell me,” Saban said.
Pearlman opened his coat to reveal a T-shirt that said “34 yards.”
Saban looked at Desmond Howard, smiled, and shook his head.
Pearlman did several other tricks and left the set with high-fives from Saban and the others.
